K@t

One more bit of advice (or two). Before you buy, consider how you will be using the machine. Will you travel with it? If so, take weight/size into consideration and pass on the big screen, dual DVD drives, etc.

Less is not always more. Get one with a fast chip and plenty of RAM.

Buy the extended warranty. I know it's a lot of money, but today I am taking my almost 3 year old HP back to Best Buy and they are replacing the battery (the second most expensive part of the whole package, after the screen) for FREE. It's not dead - just doesn't hold a charge the way it should any more.

Again, I say take a trusted geek with you, or get one to help you order online.

I completly agree with this...especially about taking a trusted geek. Geeks in the computer stores are still there to make money off you.

I have a toshiba lap top at the moment. They use to be good but the newer models aren't as good. The first one I bought we returned it after 3 days because it kept shutting it self off. And the one we returned it for, after about 6 months i had to have them replace the mother board in it because it wasn't recognizing the battery. Fortunately they honored the warranty and I didn't have to pay, but I've had more then my fair share of problems with this Toshiba which is why I'm replacing it for an HP after I move.

I go to a curves type gym here in Portugal and I love it. It really works for me a lot better then traditional gyms have in the past. I haven't ever heard of the butterfly life....i'd be interested in any one who knows something about that. I'm moving to florida next month and I had planned on joining a curves near by.

My hubby is a certified network engineer and he's a certifiable geek. He said Dells are over rated. He said at the moment HP is the best price/quality ratio, and you can also customize them. If you pm me with how much u want to spend and what exactly u will be using the lap top for I can ask him for a suggestion if you like.

I love jewelry but it has to be the real thing. I never buy any thing under 14k gold and I always get genuine stones. I don't like the fake stuff. Because my family and hubby know this I have loads of beautiful pieces and I'm only 26! I better have a daughter some day to give it all to. Plus I have 2 strands of pearls given by different people on different occasions...I wear it all, rings, necklaces, earrings. But not all at once, usually just 1 ring on my right hand and my wedding ring (6 small round diamonds on my band and 4 small round diamonds set around 1 large diamond on my engagement ring) on the other. But I love all kinds of colored semi precious stones as well as others like jade, turquoise, etc.

I even have a set I call my patriotic set thats a ring with sapphires and rubies and a small diamond star in the middle, and a matching necklace and earrings. Hubby is always buying me new jewlery....he just doesn't know it yet :kiss www.ice.com is a great place. Their prices are fair and they are always running promotions and the quality is great.

Wow it's great to hear from some other teachers! slikchik10 I know how that mad dash at lunch can be. Here in Europe kids get an hour for lunch, can you believe it. :hungry: Because I'm at a private school now I work in the evenings and don't get a lunch break, just 10min breaks in between classes, which makes it hard to get any thing decent down. I'm looking forward to my new 7th grade reading position with normal hours.

Kity, your teaching a masters level class, thats great! I'm hoping to get into the Educational Leadership program at USF next year. I want to give myself some time to get settled then I'm going to apply to start in January hopefully. Plus there are some reading endorsements I want to get.

isabelle 3rd grade you are brave! I never managed well with the elementary kids, I do much better with the middle school grades, but I think most graduating teachers these days prefer the younger ones.

So, I have ordered 4 new books from South Beach, one for quick 30min meals, another for summer recipes, and another that is a restaurant guide and the last which is a quick guide to take to the grocery store with you. My mom (who is also a teacher...but now she's the media specialist) is going to do South Beach with me, so I'm excited. I just have one more month left before I get back to the states. We are flying in on July 4th, independence day..whoo hoo! :clap2: South Beach has a ton of new products from Kraft, like Breakfast bars and microwave meals. I plan on having the bars for Breakfast and bringing the microwave meals for my lunch at work, and then cooking a smart dinner. And they have tons of snack packs like crackers and Cookies etc. So I'm going to allow myself 2 snack packs in between meals. Hopefully, if I can stick to that, plus drink my Water and get in some exercise....I will be losing in no time!

Ok well its 8am here and I'm off to work (yep thats right, I have to teach on Saturday mornings...what a bummer!) Catch you guys later! :mad:

U should watch Scrubs. :guess

Are you saying no one is allowed to do work on their house on the weekends at all?

Exercise actually haas very little to do with your skin. Building muscle beneath the skin will make it look fuller, and not so saggy, but no amount of exercise will tone skin.

Genetics, age, duration of obesity, and where you carried the weight are really the only factors at play.

Exercise is no bad thing, but it will not make a scrap of difference as to how skin reacts to weight loss.

My doctor told me this exact same thing. I figure I'm going to need something done with my belly skin when I get to goal. That's where I carry most of my weight.

wow that sounds pretty sweet..... well i'm going to hope mine will be as nice.

Amen Carlene! The car honking outside, the kids yelling in the football field across from my building, and all the dogs barking in the buildings around me don't usually bother me. It was just the drilling in the wall next to us that did it for me :rolleyes

Hey every one,

I have done some research about the various diets out there. I decided that the best one for me is the South Beach and its something that I think I can stick to for the long haul. I did Atkins with success before banding, but it wasn't something I could sustain for the long haul, and I eventually gained it all back. My cousin and her hubby are doing it (hubby is a sgt. in the army and is shipping off to Iraq in November) and I really need the structure of a diet. I'm thinking about joining the online program as well.

Are there any other South Beachers out there?

ahahahaha...thats kind of funny actually susan. That guy is just being silly expecting people to not do any thing until 12:00. As much as i hate the construction, it has to be done i suppose and they are following the rules. Here it's Monday-Friday 8am to 5pm that they can work.

Wow, at home daycare...I don't think I could handle that. Your brave! I know what you mean about the food. Whenever I don't have something healthy handy, I grab unhealthy stuff...then I always regret it later. Plan, plan, plan!

Thanks! Would u believe that in accident surveys they found the number 1 leading cause of accidents was from people who didn't readjusting the mirrors after some one else had driven the car! I would have thought cell phones, or eating in the car, or the radio, but the number 1 was that. So all the better for me. Besides he's getting a civic in black with black interior....to manly for me, its going to be interesting when we have to go some place together :heh:

I work until 10 every night so i only get in around 10:30 or so and have dinner around 11pm, its after 1 or 2 am usually when i go to bed, so i usually sleep until 10 or so...but it's been so hot at night here and we don't have central ac (silly europeans) so its hard to sleep at night and i usually do my best sleep between 5am or so and 10am. And now they are taking that away from me. I can't wait until we move!

Lawn service at 7am?! OMG I'd be livid. And 10 months of construction...geezzz...what ever happened to noise pollution??

Okay, they are doing construction in the apartment next to us. 8am and they start drilling and hammering. I haven't had any decent sleep in 4 days! We are leaving in another month why couldn't they wait?! BAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...........ok, I feel better.

Allrighty people.....one of the perks to moving across the ocean? Ya can't take the cars with ya. I have ordered a new 2008 Mazda 3 i-touring that is completely loaded! And the best part? It's purple!!!! Hubby was initially against the color since he said he could never drive it (to girly) but I won him over in the end! It should be coming in mid July so thats perfect timing for me. Here are a few photos, its black cloth interior (they had leather option, but leather in Florida..ehhh...)

Hey everyone! How many of you out there are banded teachers?? I would love to trade class stories as well as band stories, and hear how you deal with day to day band business as well as a classroom full of kids!

I have been teaching English as a foreign language in Portugal for the past 2 years, and I was a substitute teacher for 3 years before that. (I did it while I was completing my BS at university) I have just accepted a 7th grade Reading position in Haines City, FL and I'm looking forward to it! I'm planning on getting my reading endorsement and hopefully by next year, I'm going to enroll in a masters program for educational leadership at USF.

My band business hasn't been on track like it should be. But I'm hoping the structured schedule from the school will help me keep my eating on track. The school I'm teaching at now has weird hours since it's a private school and we teach outside of regular school hours. (I teach until 10pm every night!) and I can't wait to get away from this and into a normal schedule!

Well, I hope there are other teachers out there I would love to hear from you!

hey way to go! I know how hard it is. I struggled to graduate with a 3.0 in my undergrad program it isn't easy! What grad program are you doing?

Hey Anna,

Usually the doctors do a complete unfill to see if the band will fall back into place. Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't. If it doesn't then surgery is usually required. At least this is what I have understood. There are some out there who have had slipped bands, I'm sure they will weigh in.

Thanks every one, so it sounds like it's ok to go ahead with this then. I just didn't want people to think we were tacky people trying to get gifts or anything. I just want to have a nice day with friends and family..and darn it i want my dress. And that may even be incentive for me to get this weight off! I want to have beautiful wedding photos to show my kids some day.

Nickswife, I'm sending you a pm.

Hey Everyone,

There is something that has been bothering me for awhile, and it would be great to get some advise about it.

As many of you know I'm American and my husband is Portuguese. When I graduated from university I moved here to Portugal to be with him. The process for marriage here in Portugal is that everyone has to go to the court house and get married first. Then if they want a church wedding they can do it after. Hubby and I were planning a church wedding, so we went in jeans and t shirts to the court house, without our rings, with nothing, basically to sign a piece of paper to say we were married. A few weeks after that the wedding plans fell apart. Logistics where difficult because of my family in the US and his family owning a business, it seemed we couldn't find a time that every one could make it together. So we decided we didn't need a wedding. We didn't get to exchange rings, or kiss the bride, or have any pictures that we could show our future kids. I have always regretted that.

Now....next month we are moving back to Florida. We have been married 3 years this year. Our anniversary is September 6th. Our 5 year anniversary in 2009 will be on a Sunday. I was thinking that I would like to do a church wedding in the US on our 5 year anniversary. It wouldn't be a vow renewal as a lot of couples do, because we never had any vows. I would like to do a traditional ceremony in a Methodist church that my grandparents attend. I would like the dress and the cake and a photographer. Hubby's parents would probably be able to fly in at that time to attend. His brother and my sister in-law would probably be able to come too.

I'm just wondering what you all think, if it's appropriate to have a wedding after we have already been married. I don't exactly know what the etiquette procedure is for this. Any opinions on this?

Hey there, I'm 26 but I was banded when I was 25. I didn't realize how many young people their where around here! I haven't had much luck with my band so far but hopefully that will change. I'm moving next month from Portugal back to Florida.

Kat, Sherry and Chrispy will also be there. I know that several of the members that now belong to band2gether are in that area also. We will be at Disney, care to join us for a day? ~Mandy

Hey that sounds great! I sure would love too! Just let me know a date and time and I will see if I can make it. If it's on a weekend it shouldn't be a problem at all.

beachgirl....ahhh...i'm gonna have to look at a map. :eek: I'm from polk county and I lived in Tampa for awhile, and my grandparents are in charlotte county, so I dont know much outside of that area. when are u moving down?